Electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells, can convert energy stored in fuels to electrical energy with high efficiencies. In a fuel cell system, such as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, an oxidizing flow is passed through the cathode side of the fuel cell while a fuel inlet flow is passed through the anode side of the fuel cell. The oxidizing flow is typically air, while the fuel flow can be a hydrocarbon fuel, such as methane, natural gas, pentane, ethanol, or methanol. The fuel cell enables the transport of negatively charged oxygen ions from the cathode flow stream to the anode flow stream, where the ion combines with either free hydrogen or hydrogen in a hydrocarbon molecule to form water vapor and/or with carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide. The excess electrons from the negatively charged ion are routed back to the cathode side of the fuel cell through an electrical circuit completed between anode and cathode, resulting in an electrical current flow through the circuit.
In order to optimize the operation of electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells, the polarization behavior and conductive properties of the electrode, electrolyte, and current carriers of the electrochemical device may be monitored to enable the oxidizing and fuel flows to be precisely regulated. In order to maintain proper operating conditions for electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells, it is desirable to continually monitor and adjust the electrochemical devices, but current methods for monitoring electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells, are inefficient, are not customizable, and involve human intervention which makes optimization and continual monitoring and adjustment difficult.